


welcome to the hotel california

by WishingTree



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, but there's something like the time equivalent of being roofied, don't worry they snapped out of it, it's not graphic or even well described
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 06:39:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14350011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: The one where the song Hotel California plays on a loop, Sara and Ava get trapped in a weird misaligned time hotel, and the team has a stressful couple of days.





	welcome to the hotel california

**Author's Note:**

> Title and references obviously from ‘Hotel California’ by The Eagles;

“What do we got?” Sara announced her arrival, striding onto the bridge and glancing around at the assembled team. Ava was right behind her, moving towards the centre console, and none of them batted an eye at the fact that she was wearing what was very obviously Sara’s sweater over a pair of jeans instead of the pantsuit she had showed up in last night.

“Level three.” Nate clapped his hands and pointed at the projected anachronism map. “It seems that Jesse James has suddenly discovered the tomb of King Tut, five years earlier than Howard Carter is meant to find it.” 

Sara raised an eyebrow. “Jesse James? Like, outlaw from the wild west?” 

“That would be the one. He also stole Tutankhamun’s dagger.” 

“Original,” Ray commented, and Nate inclined his head.

“It’s a meteoric iron dagger, worth a fortune. And also he’s running around 1981.” 

“Why?” Sara stared blankly, and Nate lifted his hands in an exaggerated shrug. 

“Who know, Cap. So, are we on it?” 

Sara nodded decisively. “Alright everybody, we split into teams and search this place for a time-displaced outlaw carrying an ancient Egyptian dagger.” She drummed her hands against the console. “And then we get back in time for dinner.” 

 

 

 

Dinnertime rolled around, and everyone was back except Sara and Ava.

“Captain breaking her own rule,” Wally said faux-seriously, shaking his head, and they laughed.

But an hour later when there was still no sign of them, Amaya called everyone back to the bridge.

“Gideon, do you know where they are?” she asked.

“ _I’m afraid Captain Lance and Director Sharpe have yet to return, and their comms have gone silent. I cannot reach them_.”

They all glanced around at each other uncertainly, wondering if they should start getting worried.

“Gideon? Get me a trace on their last known location.” 

 

 

 

_Three hours earlier, some deserted stretch of road —_

 

“Hey, what’s that?” Sara squinted at the darkness in front of her, trying to see beyond the headlights of their car. “That light, did you see it?” 

Ava shook her head, glancing at her watch. “Sara, we shouldn’t – ”

But Sara was already changing lanes, and Ava sighed. They pulled into the parking lot of a rundown motel, completely deserted, and Ava eyed the building with trepidation. “Okay, I want it put down for the record that I think this is a bad idea. We should be heading back to the Waverider.”

“And we will! But what if Jesse James is hiding out here? Seems like a great place to lay low. Besides, there’s something about it that seems…” Sara trailed off as she pulled into a parking spot by the front door and killed the engine. Ava waited for her to finish her thought, but Sara only tilted her head and leaned forward to get a better look at the place, folding her arms over the steering wheel.

“Huh. Somebody’s an Eagles fan,” she said with a lopsided grin, glancing at Ava and then nodding at the sign reading  _Hotel California_  flickering neon above the door. The paint was peeling off the building, and aside from the front lobby, there was no sign of life anywhere, no lights flickering in any of the windows. 

“Cute,” Ava said, eyes darting around to take in their surroundings as she wrinkled her nose distastefully. The asphalt was riddled with cracks and potholes, little weeds growing up, and she wasn’t entirely sure this place was still open for business.

Nevertheless, Sara got out of the car and moved around to Ava’s side where Ava was stubbornly sitting in the passenger seat. 

“Are you going to get out of the car?” she asked, amusement shining in her eyes, and Ava gave her a look.

“Sara, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. We shouldn’t be deviating from the plan.”

“What, not your style?” Sara swept her hand towards the motel, “But it’s _such a lovely place_ ,” she started singing, ignoring the glare Ava levelled at her. She hummed a few bars of the song and then grinned again, darting forward to brush the backs of her fingers against Ava’s cheek. “Such a lovely face.” 

Ava’s eyes widened as she tried to fight down the blush from appearing on her cheeks, but Sara was giving her a knowing smile, and she huffed and turned to face the windshield.

“Come on, Ava,” Sara cajoled, leaning her elbows against the open window of the car, “We go in, take a look around, and then head back to the ship. In and out.” She waited a beat before straightening and tapping the car door. “Up to you.” 

Sara turned and disappeared into the motel, leaving Ava outside, and Ava huffed again, resisting the urge to cross her arms and start sulking. After a moment, she gave in and rolled her eyes, getting out of the car and taking another look around as she firmly shut the door.

The sign really was the only remarkable thing around, and Ava squinted up at the worn letters. From the wear, she wouldn’t be surprised if it was decades old, and something about that detail was bothering her.

She looked around again critically, and felt something tugging at the edge of her consciousness, telling her to go inside. She considered it for a long moment before sighing, turning around.

“Sara,” Ava called out as she pushed the door of the motel open, hurrying to catch up with her in the lobby and finally realizing what was bothering her about the sign. “Sara, the song Hotel California came out in 1977.” 

Sara gave her a distracted smile, a faraway look in her eyes as she swayed gently to music Ava didn't think she could hear. Something about that was odd, but Ava was coming to realize that her mind was moving more sluggishly than normal.

“So?” 

Ava furrowed her brow, trying to ignore a distant string of sound echoing from somewhere in the distance. “So, that was only four years ago from this time.” 

Sara grabbed Ava’s hand and lifted her arm so she could twirl herself under it, letting out a carefree laugh. “And?” 

“And… and…” Ava blinked, inhaling and suddenly becoming aware of what could only be described as _music_ , music flowing through the building and the air and the earth itself. That must be what Sara was dancing to; how had Ava not heard it earlier?

Ava felt the sudden urge to laugh, not sure what was funny but letting the feeling overtake her anyways. Sara beamed up at her, pulling her closer so they were pressed together. The room around them was suddenly alive with an energy she could _see_ , and she looked around in amazement. The motel was nicer than any hotel she’d ever been in, and Ava was wonderstruck.

Then everything was a blur of floaty colors and laughter and _Sara_ , Sara Sara Sara. They ran through the halls, found room after room of distractions, and Ava never once thought about the mission they were on. What could have been hours or days later, Ava came back to awareness to an extravagant hotel room, lying on top of the bed with her arm around Sara. The TV was still playing something she didn’t recognize, but she smiled dazedly, letting her mind wander as her sense of duty tried to claw its way back to the forefront.

“Sara,” Ava yawned, pleasantly exhausted as she rubbed a hand over her face. “It’s been long enough, I think. We should – we should probably check out.”

Sara blinked at her, looking innocent and impossibly soft with her hair down in loose waves around her shoulders. “…Did we ever check in?” 

As Ava tried to think about it, the whispers of the song snuck into her head again, and suddenly she couldn’t find it in herself to care about the question. She closed her eyes and let herself get swept up again, forgetting what it was she was trying to keep track of.

 

 

 

The next time her stupor was broken was when her and Sara where playing with the jukebox in the common area. It was Zari, and Ava laughed when she saw her, hearing Sara do the same.

“Guys?” Zari said in an urgent whisper, and Ava felt her smile fade at the sight of her horrified face.

“Hey, Zari,” Sara greeted cheerfully, “Did you bring the team with you? This hotel is really great.” 

Zari didn’t respond, and Sara took a step towards her. “Hey, what’s wrong? What’s with – those?” Sara gestured at the massive pair of headphones Zari was wearing, another pair around her neck and a third in her hand.

“This is really where you’ve been the whole time?” she asked, and Ava tilted her head to the side as she tried to understand what she was talking about. Her body suddenly felt extremely lethargic as she tried to concentrate, and her mind refused to cooperate.

“We’ve been looking for you for almost a _week_ ,” Zari exclaimed, relief coloring her tone.

“A week?” Sara laughed, drifting closer, “No, we’ve only been here for… for… ” 

Zari’s expression was smug as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched Sara try and come up with an answer. “Uh–huh, you were saying?” 

Ava tried to help Sara, searching her mind, but the more she thought about it, the foggier her head became. Zari stared at them both before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Okay, I think this should help.” 

Zari lunged forwards and clamped the pair of headphones in her hand over Sara’s ears, hastily checking they were secure before throwing herself backwards out of Sara’s reach with her arms up defensively.

“What – ” Sara shook her head, moving to take them off, but Zari activated her totem and sent of gust of air towards her, trapping her in a mini cyclone and pinning her arms at her sides. Sara’s face hardened as she tried to wrench herself free, movements turning aggressive, and the sight brought something up inside Ava, some distant part of her roaring protectively.

Sara slowly stopped struggling, a shocked expression growing on her face, and that part of Ava faded away again, buried under the fog once more.

“Oh thank god,” Zari sighed in relief and dropped her hands, letting the wind fade. “They said you would fight it, but that went so much better than I thought it would!”

Ava watched it in confusion, lethargy seeping into her limbs once more.

“This hotel, it’s a – a time… time… something. I stopped listening when I was volunteered to be the one to snap you out of it.” Zari lifted a finger and gave them warning looks. “And you can’t blame me, because they said you would fight it, and I’ve fought you before! Not an experience I’d like to repeat, thank you very much.” 

“What the hell happened to us?” Sara gasped hoarsely, bringing a hand up to her forehead and glancing at Ava as she took an involuntary step forward. 

Zari threw up her hands, shrugging with her whole body. “Apparently time runs a little crooked here or something. Like, it’s anchored funny to this hotel, I don’t know. But it traps you here, makes you want to stay.” 

“You don’t say,” Sara muttered, swiping her hand over her face and then shaking her head sharply as if to clear it.

“You wanna do the honours, Captain?” Zari asked, taking the headphones off from around her neck and gesturing towards Ava with them, and Ava blinked, not understanding. Her vision was a little fuzzy around the edges, their faces just slightly out of focus, and Ava wondered if that was weird.

As she was deliberating it, Sara accepted a second pair of headphones from Zari and turned towards her, taking a couple steps forward. 

“Ava, I need you to hold still for a second, alright?” she says calmly, and Ava recognized her assassin training taking her over. She’d never seen it outside of a fight, and she furrowed her brow, noting the way she was holding her weight as she took measured steps, motions smooth. Distracted, Ava didn’t register her reaching out to slip the headphones over her ears.

The ever–present sound in the air was suddenly cut off, the change so abrupt it was like she had been deafened. Ava shook her head once, feeling a panic rise up in place of the emptiness, but before she could remove the headphones, Sara’s arms were wrapped around her tightly, pinning her arms to her side.

“Ava, Ava look at me,” Sara grunted as she tried to contain Ava’s struggles, “It’s okay, I promise, you just have to keep them on – ” 

Her voice gradually pierced through the fog in her head, and Ava gradually let herself relax as she came back to herself. She felt Sara heave a sigh of relief as she slowly let go of her, and Ava just stared at her, eventually letting out a breath.

“I told you this place was bad news,” Ava said, poking Sara in the chest for emphasis, and Sara scoffed.

“I could hear the music, not my fault!”

Ava opened her mouth to argue but then softened, nodding, “I know. Not your fault.”

Sara wrapped her arms around her waist in a hug, tucking her face into Ava’s neck, and Ava hugged her back tightly, glad she had gotten trapped with Sara.

“Okay, time to go,” Zari beckoned them forward, glancing furtively over her shoulder before darting down the hallway. Now that her mind was starting to clear, all Ava could see was a standard rundown motel, none of the flash or sparkle from before. She shook her head again, unable to believe that she had been so easily entranced and trapped, and shared a look with Sara, following after her.

“Zari, why are we running? I thought it was just this place that draws people in, is there something to run from?” Sara asked the next time Zari slowed to peek around a corner.

“I’m sorry, did you want to stay and find out?” Zari whispered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Sara considered it for a moment before pressing her lips together and making a gesture for her to lead the way. “Right. After you.” 

 

 

 

Finally back on the Waverider, Ava sat down heavily on Sara’s bed, glad to have been cleared by Gideon.

“I’m going to be in so much trouble with the Bureau if I missed a week of work without advance notice.”

Sara shrugged from where she was pulling pyjamas out of her dresser. “We can get you out of it, don’t worry. We’ll just tell them about the whatever hotel we were trapped in, I’m sure they’d love to hear about a temporal abnormality like that.” She shut the drawer and ambled back over towards Ava, dropping the pyjamas in her lap. “Apparently we would have just stayed there forever, if nobody came to snap us out of it.” 

“Remind me to thank your team tomorrow then,” Ava said, falling backwards onto the bed. “Sara, I swear, if I ever hear that song again I’m going to hit something.” 

“Agreed,” Sara sighed, dropping down on the bed next to her. They were silent for a long moment before Ava spoke up again.

“Problem,” she addressed the ceiling with a sigh, but Sara turned her head to face her, “I’ve got it stuck in my head.”

Sara let out a laugh and crossed one hand behind her head, using the other to grab Ava’s hand and lace their fingers together.

“Should I go have Gideon fabricate a guitar? I’m sure I could learn how to play it.”

Ava narrowed her eyes and rolled over, ending up on top of Sara and pinning her to the bed. “Don’t you dare, Lance,” she growled even as she dutifully filed away the information that Sara knew how to play guitar for a later date, and Sara grinned up at her, eyes shining mischievously.

“How are you gonna stop me?”

Ava raised an eyebrow and glanced down pointedly. “I don’t know, I seem to have it pretty well in hand.”

“Well how are you going to stop this? _Welcome to the Hotel California_ ,” Sara sang quietly, eyes bright even as she wiggled her eyebrows. “ _Such a lovely place… Such a lovely_ – ”

Ava swooped down and kissed her, cutting her off mid-song. She happened to have a very sound strategy to make Sara stop talking, and from the satisfied hum Sara made in response, she got the impression that the other woman didn’t much mind.

**Author's Note:**

> After the second time Sara sends a knife through the ship radio when Hotel California comes on, the team always scramble to turn off anything that happens to be playing it before Sara can cause irreparable damage. This is difficult the one time they’re in a department store and it comes on over the speakers, and results in them diving for every poor employee they see and begging for access to the audio system. They get thrown out, but not before severing the wires to eight different speakers and causing a storewide blackout. They're banned from the mall now.


End file.
